When buying a supermarket Pork Pie, you can never be quite sure what you’re putting in your basket. Even once unwrapped and segmented, can’t even be certain of what you’re putting in your mouth. But there are signs, certain small traits, of the supermarket Pork Pie, which will help. I like to pick the pie up and see if the wrapper is clinging firmly to the Pie’s base – a good thing in my book. A little tap with a finger tip or knock with a knuckle should also reveal whether the pie has a moist hard base (saturated by the delicious pork fat and juices), or if it has a soft, dry or crumbly base. With the packaging still on, there is little else you can do in the aisle.
The Tesco’s Finest Pork Pie – A Melton Mowbray, no less, does not come enclosed in the usual thin wax paper. No, the Tesco’s Finest has its own cardboard home, complete with skylight. So although you may get a fair view of the pie from above, my usual tests of man-handling were rendered redundant.
Still, once undressed and on the plate, it was quite a princely looking pie. A little on the large side of the supermarket pie scale, I sliced myself an intrepid fifth, and sat down to eat.
It did not disappoint. The meat perhaps lacked a little character. Moist and smooth in texture, grey in colour, flavoursome pork certainly but it was asking for a touch more tang. Here, was the base level kind of pie meat that you would expect, not just hope for, from a gourmet Butchers or Deli. This was fine, more than satisfactory; a great standard of meat for a supermarket pork pie, in fact.
A soft thin jelly was present in the cavity of the lower half of the pie. It did not add much in the way of taste, but the fact that a supermarket pie had any discernable amount of jelly was one to be truly savoured.
The casing, a firm dark brown piece of pastry, capped this jack-of-all-trades pie. Soft on top and fairly crisp at the bottom, the flavour and bite were pleasant enough.
As far as supermarkets go, this was a highly acceptable pie. Nothing exciting but in the Guide’s experience, about as good a pie as you can put in your trolley with the weekly shopping.
It comes in a box though, so Tesco’s high-end range must care little for the environment. Watch this space for response from Tesco about packaging.
The Tesco’s Finest Pork Pie – A Melton Mowbray, no less, does not come enclosed in the usual thin wax paper. No, the Tesco’s Finest has its own cardboard home, complete with skylight. So although you may get a fair view of the pie from above, my usual tests of man-handling were rendered redundant.Still, once undressed and on the plate, it was quite a princely looking pie. A little on the large side of the supermarket pie scale, I sliced myself an intrepid fifth, and sat down to eat.
It did not disappoint. The meat perhaps lacked a little character. Moist and smooth in texture, grey in colour, flavoursome pork certainly but it was asking for a touch more tang. Here, was the base level kind of pie meat that you would expect, not just hope for, from a gourmet Butchers or Deli. This was fine, more than satisfactory; a great standard of meat for a supermarket pork pie, in fact.
A soft thin jelly was present in the cavity of the lower half of the pie. It did not add much in the way of taste, but the fact that a supermarket pie had any discernable amount of jelly was one to be truly savoured.
The casing, a firm dark brown piece of pastry, capped this jack-of-all-trades pie. Soft on top and fairly crisp at the bottom, the flavour and bite were pleasant enough.
As far as supermarkets go, this was a highly acceptable pie. Nothing exciting but in the Guide’s experience, about as good a pie as you can put in your trolley with the weekly shopping.
It comes in a box though, so Tesco’s high-end range must care little for the environment. Watch this space for response from Tesco about packaging.
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